Post by Tom M on Jun 8, 2024 20:40:28 GMT
A few hours after So You're a Herald, Now What?
Co-written with willemf
The night is humid, muggy, stifling hot, and he's carrying too much weight as Digs makes his way back to Port Ffirst. Taking a breather by the side of the road he has an idea. Focussing on the armour, the red scales of Kallos and their soothing heat resistance slide their way out through the gaps in his leather a little too quickly, a little too eagerly... as if they were waiting for their chance.
The voice is clear and resonant, but almost cautious. Not loud enough to spook or seem too hostile… yet, “So… you finally have a use for me? I thought your friends were very clear when they told you how much they disapproved of your choices, why not just do what they say?”
Digs weighs up just dealing with the heat and decides against it, “Let me guess… you want me to get myself killed too so that you get to be free?”
“If that was how it worked I would have tried and unlike your friends I would have succeeded in killing you. But no, I’ve come to realise that there is only one way to free myself from this boredom that you trapped me in, but I don’t think you want that do you? Because you know that without me you are weak. You know that all the adorable words and feelings they try and shower you in have made you weak, vulnerable. When you first found me you were weak then too, but you had potential, but now? Now you’re nothing but a disgrace little worm. They have poisoned your mind with dreams of serving a demigod with flawed plans and no respect for your power.” The voice rumbles in Digs’ chest, “If I was you I would have killed the bastard where he stood.”
Digs rolls his eyes as he picks up his pack, “Last I checked Kallos, everyone in this narrative is alive but you so you maybe you don’t make the best choices.”
He gives a little chuckle, “Yes, you’re alive. Well done. Frankly it’s a miracle you made it this far, and remind me, how did you survive so long?”
“I’m pretty sure you’re about to tell me.”
The warmth of the armour flashes a little before subsiding again.
“When I was a general I allowed no weakness, no cowardice. When a subordinate failed they were killed, but before their death they were made to explain every weakness that led to their failure. It taught the rest of those weaklings exactly how they should strive to be better. And every time without fail they would tell the tribunal of how they had grown soft, complacent.”
“Do you really think you will be any different?”
“Of all kobolds you are the first I have seen to grow real scales, even if you first had to steal them. And now you shed them in favour of what? The approval of friends who would rather see you soft and docile?”
Digs tenses up with anger and then lets it subside. “What next Kallos? You tell me I can be more like you and less like them? I could be strong like you? You think you’re better than them… but they pity you. You know that right? They think that trapping you in here is wrong and that you deserve mercy. They are so much more than you are and you’re too small minded to even see it.”
”SILENCE BOY! You think their pity means anything to a near god? They are fools, leeching their power from creatures they cannot understand! Fools and pawns and yet they act as if they are better than I. You act as if you're better, as does the creature that seeks to tie your strings like a puppet. You would be dead without people like me Digs, without Vorax, without Malgrys, and yet you dare pretend that you are strong thanks to the effort of meek little servants?!”
The voice is steadily growing louder and louder, the resonance beginning to cascade around Digs, washing him with furious heat.
Digs closes his eyes and weathers the heat, dropping his bags in the road, “Kallos they want to help you and you’re so blinded by hate that you’d rather spend eternity in this armour than admit it? You’d rather torture yourself every day than accept that what they want might actually benefit you? Why? It’s like you want this. It’s like you want to be miserable.”
“They know nothing of my life, my sacrifices, my triumphs. You think I would stoop so low as to accept their pity? They would see me freed in the same breath and the mad fool Vorax and the whelp Covys. Don’t you see Digs, just as they try and weaken you and make you soft they try and treat me like a pathetic child in need of saving. None of them had ever lain a blade against me, and yet they act as if their short lives are somehow special just because they haven’t yet faced death? They are liars Digs, they don’t see me as a person anymore, simply another stray soul for them to be the hero for, just. Like. They see. You”
“At least they want to be heroes. What do you want? What’s your goal here?”
“The same as all creatures, authority. Just like you, just like them”
“And you think you’re going to get that? You think you’re going to just bully me into doing what you say? And I thought Vorax was the mad one.”
“Demanding others submit to your idea of justice, and you claim you desire no authority…”
Digs thinks for a few seconds, “I don’t want authority, but like it or not I’ve got it right now and Frigus was right: I do want fairness. I do want justice. So let’s do a bit of that shall we? You said you used to make those who failed explain why so let’s put that on you. Tell me why you failed Kallos.”
There is a feeling of another surge in rage building up. But it dissipates and Digs almost feels… tired.
“I fought for my queen in a thousand battles, I bore the scars and broken scales of a thousand wounds, but I served her well. I grew old, powerful, I was given a command, dragons, abishai, even Yugolothi mercenaries. And I kept fighting, but slowly I skunk further and further behind my lines. My jaw grew weak on the soft flesh of my failed soldiers, my claws dull with lack of use. I grew complacent Digs, I trusted that others would be the ones to protect me. And so I was slain, not in a blazing battle but as a defeated warlord. I had become pathetic, lazy. I had been given a soft life and it made me weak. But you have no right to judge me, only make your own judgements and fester knowing you can never action them”
Digs listens patiently to the story and lets silence linger for a while after it ends.
“Nah. That’s not why you failed.” He confidently states as he starts walking again.
“Even then I could have crushed you with one claw, but please, tell me little lizard. Tell me that which you will never truly be able to know.”
“You had all that power right? You had armies at your command? And what did you do with them? What did you change? Nothing. You knew the system was wrong and you let it keep going until you became a victim of it and that was always going to happen once you decided not to fix it.”
“Fix it? You think I didn't try? My lady was cast down by jealous fools. At every moment I strove to free her, to bring her back to power. The system was wrong because of the actions of others, every action I took was to better the world, to change the wrong to right. I was never a victim, I was a champion, a Tyrant who strove to make things right.”
“It's still why you failed and I'm not going to make the same mistake you did. I've got an opportunity to actually make things better and I'm not going to waste it. Maybe becoming a Herald isn't the way to do it, but it might be.”
“Digs... do not abandon what makes you strong. I can make you stronger, I can guide your hand. You want justice? Then slay those you think are unjust and I will give all the power I still have. But I cannot have my final legacy be that of a weak pawn, sacrificing all they have achieved just to submit to the whims of those who in one breath call you friend and in another try and strip away everything you truly are. Do not lie to yourself, they are not your friends Digs, they are friends with the Digs they have created, the Digs they want not the Digs they have. But I know who you are.. I can smell every inch of rage that bubbles inside you. Kill whoever stands in your way, slay the dragons of every continent, defile their temples to their false god Bahamut and the demigods you are to pledge your life to. Do not kill the Digs that survived Malgrys, embrace him.”
“Kallos, did you notice that I got all nervous and upset talking to them and I don't when I'm talking to you?”
“Because I am right! Because I am not trying to kill the person you have become. You trust me Digs because I am the only one willing to keep you alive, no matter how weak you become. Trust me Digs, let me make you into a dragon!”
“No. Wrong again. It's because I don't care about your opinion of me.” Digs closes his eyes and concentrates as the red scales shift back into the armour.
The armour fades with a raging scream, dissipating into nothing.
It's still a hot and muggy night and he really could have done with that resistance to the heat, but a gentle breeze across the path reassures him that he doesn't need it.
Co-written with willemf
The night is humid, muggy, stifling hot, and he's carrying too much weight as Digs makes his way back to Port Ffirst. Taking a breather by the side of the road he has an idea. Focussing on the armour, the red scales of Kallos and their soothing heat resistance slide their way out through the gaps in his leather a little too quickly, a little too eagerly... as if they were waiting for their chance.
The voice is clear and resonant, but almost cautious. Not loud enough to spook or seem too hostile… yet, “So… you finally have a use for me? I thought your friends were very clear when they told you how much they disapproved of your choices, why not just do what they say?”
Digs weighs up just dealing with the heat and decides against it, “Let me guess… you want me to get myself killed too so that you get to be free?”
“If that was how it worked I would have tried and unlike your friends I would have succeeded in killing you. But no, I’ve come to realise that there is only one way to free myself from this boredom that you trapped me in, but I don’t think you want that do you? Because you know that without me you are weak. You know that all the adorable words and feelings they try and shower you in have made you weak, vulnerable. When you first found me you were weak then too, but you had potential, but now? Now you’re nothing but a disgrace little worm. They have poisoned your mind with dreams of serving a demigod with flawed plans and no respect for your power.” The voice rumbles in Digs’ chest, “If I was you I would have killed the bastard where he stood.”
Digs rolls his eyes as he picks up his pack, “Last I checked Kallos, everyone in this narrative is alive but you so you maybe you don’t make the best choices.”
He gives a little chuckle, “Yes, you’re alive. Well done. Frankly it’s a miracle you made it this far, and remind me, how did you survive so long?”
“I’m pretty sure you’re about to tell me.”
The warmth of the armour flashes a little before subsiding again.
“When I was a general I allowed no weakness, no cowardice. When a subordinate failed they were killed, but before their death they were made to explain every weakness that led to their failure. It taught the rest of those weaklings exactly how they should strive to be better. And every time without fail they would tell the tribunal of how they had grown soft, complacent.”
“Do you really think you will be any different?”
“Of all kobolds you are the first I have seen to grow real scales, even if you first had to steal them. And now you shed them in favour of what? The approval of friends who would rather see you soft and docile?”
Digs tenses up with anger and then lets it subside. “What next Kallos? You tell me I can be more like you and less like them? I could be strong like you? You think you’re better than them… but they pity you. You know that right? They think that trapping you in here is wrong and that you deserve mercy. They are so much more than you are and you’re too small minded to even see it.”
”SILENCE BOY! You think their pity means anything to a near god? They are fools, leeching their power from creatures they cannot understand! Fools and pawns and yet they act as if they are better than I. You act as if you're better, as does the creature that seeks to tie your strings like a puppet. You would be dead without people like me Digs, without Vorax, without Malgrys, and yet you dare pretend that you are strong thanks to the effort of meek little servants?!”
The voice is steadily growing louder and louder, the resonance beginning to cascade around Digs, washing him with furious heat.
Digs closes his eyes and weathers the heat, dropping his bags in the road, “Kallos they want to help you and you’re so blinded by hate that you’d rather spend eternity in this armour than admit it? You’d rather torture yourself every day than accept that what they want might actually benefit you? Why? It’s like you want this. It’s like you want to be miserable.”
“They know nothing of my life, my sacrifices, my triumphs. You think I would stoop so low as to accept their pity? They would see me freed in the same breath and the mad fool Vorax and the whelp Covys. Don’t you see Digs, just as they try and weaken you and make you soft they try and treat me like a pathetic child in need of saving. None of them had ever lain a blade against me, and yet they act as if their short lives are somehow special just because they haven’t yet faced death? They are liars Digs, they don’t see me as a person anymore, simply another stray soul for them to be the hero for, just. Like. They see. You”
“At least they want to be heroes. What do you want? What’s your goal here?”
“The same as all creatures, authority. Just like you, just like them”
“And you think you’re going to get that? You think you’re going to just bully me into doing what you say? And I thought Vorax was the mad one.”
“Demanding others submit to your idea of justice, and you claim you desire no authority…”
Digs thinks for a few seconds, “I don’t want authority, but like it or not I’ve got it right now and Frigus was right: I do want fairness. I do want justice. So let’s do a bit of that shall we? You said you used to make those who failed explain why so let’s put that on you. Tell me why you failed Kallos.”
There is a feeling of another surge in rage building up. But it dissipates and Digs almost feels… tired.
“I fought for my queen in a thousand battles, I bore the scars and broken scales of a thousand wounds, but I served her well. I grew old, powerful, I was given a command, dragons, abishai, even Yugolothi mercenaries. And I kept fighting, but slowly I skunk further and further behind my lines. My jaw grew weak on the soft flesh of my failed soldiers, my claws dull with lack of use. I grew complacent Digs, I trusted that others would be the ones to protect me. And so I was slain, not in a blazing battle but as a defeated warlord. I had become pathetic, lazy. I had been given a soft life and it made me weak. But you have no right to judge me, only make your own judgements and fester knowing you can never action them”
Digs listens patiently to the story and lets silence linger for a while after it ends.
“Nah. That’s not why you failed.” He confidently states as he starts walking again.
“Even then I could have crushed you with one claw, but please, tell me little lizard. Tell me that which you will never truly be able to know.”
“You had all that power right? You had armies at your command? And what did you do with them? What did you change? Nothing. You knew the system was wrong and you let it keep going until you became a victim of it and that was always going to happen once you decided not to fix it.”
“Fix it? You think I didn't try? My lady was cast down by jealous fools. At every moment I strove to free her, to bring her back to power. The system was wrong because of the actions of others, every action I took was to better the world, to change the wrong to right. I was never a victim, I was a champion, a Tyrant who strove to make things right.”
“It's still why you failed and I'm not going to make the same mistake you did. I've got an opportunity to actually make things better and I'm not going to waste it. Maybe becoming a Herald isn't the way to do it, but it might be.”
“Digs... do not abandon what makes you strong. I can make you stronger, I can guide your hand. You want justice? Then slay those you think are unjust and I will give all the power I still have. But I cannot have my final legacy be that of a weak pawn, sacrificing all they have achieved just to submit to the whims of those who in one breath call you friend and in another try and strip away everything you truly are. Do not lie to yourself, they are not your friends Digs, they are friends with the Digs they have created, the Digs they want not the Digs they have. But I know who you are.. I can smell every inch of rage that bubbles inside you. Kill whoever stands in your way, slay the dragons of every continent, defile their temples to their false god Bahamut and the demigods you are to pledge your life to. Do not kill the Digs that survived Malgrys, embrace him.”
“Kallos, did you notice that I got all nervous and upset talking to them and I don't when I'm talking to you?”
“Because I am right! Because I am not trying to kill the person you have become. You trust me Digs because I am the only one willing to keep you alive, no matter how weak you become. Trust me Digs, let me make you into a dragon!”
“No. Wrong again. It's because I don't care about your opinion of me.” Digs closes his eyes and concentrates as the red scales shift back into the armour.
The armour fades with a raging scream, dissipating into nothing.
It's still a hot and muggy night and he really could have done with that resistance to the heat, but a gentle breeze across the path reassures him that he doesn't need it.